Ruth

I have a fairly extensive Jewish library now which impresses even me, to be honest. I didn’t imagine I’d acquire this many in so little time. Many came from my Jewish Information Class I had to take for my conversion through my Shul but many are my own choices too.

I’ve had people ask me for suggestions on what to read, for what purposes, and figured a list I can maintain and add to might be best. I’ll try to give it something resembling order but I can’t make any promises it will make sense.

Unless otherwise specified, the books are from a Reform or interdisciplinary perspective. Many are from Jewish Lights Publishing house.

Books About Conversion:

I have two specifically about this, and given who usually asks about book reccomendations I might as well list them first.

Choosing a Jewish Life, by Anita Diamant is the one everyone gets suggested, and for good reason. It is a very good, very sympathetic overview of what to expect, the common reasons people convert, and how to handle expectations. This was a required text for my JIC class (which is not to imply it will be required for all!) I have completely read this book.

Embracing the Covenant, by Rabbi Allan L. Berkowitz & Patti Moskovitz was a book given to me by my Rabbi when I first asked to speak to him about my interest in converting. It’s mostly in essays and brief anecdotes from actual converts about why, when, and where they are now. It’s a good book for those who are curious, I’m not sure of its utility if you’re further along the path. It didn’t come up again in the JIC. I have completely read this book.

Books about Jewish History:

I also have two about this, although I may dig through my wife’s shelves and add a library book I have out once I’ve analyzed them more for merit.

A Short History of the Jewish People, by Raymond P. Scheindlin was a JIC required text. It’s a surprisingly good history book that matches up well with actual academic sources I know about the periods of time it covers, which was a concern I had coming from a Christian religion with a heavy dose of apologism. It’s in accessible language and is small enough to carry around with you (or conceal, if need be.) I did not quite finish reading through this book.

The Way into the Varieties of Jewishness, by Sylvia Barack Fishman was both a JIC required text and one I was given when I first approached my Rabbi. It focuses on the history of the developments of 19^th and 20^th century Rabbinic Judaism and I think it does a very good job going over incentives and changes over time. I haven’t reread it in a while but I know I enjoyed it when I did. I have completely read this book.

Others will probably be added over time, but I’m not up to digging up my academic sources not directly in front of me right now.

Books on Jewish Holidays:

I have four books on this and half are personal selections, although their utility to others is uncertain.

Gates of Shabbat, by CCAR, edited by Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro is a fairly simple and straight-forward book about, effectively, how to practice Shabbat and make it meaningful in a Reform context when the rules are not rigid guidelines telling you what you “should” do, but suggestions about what makes Shabbat different from all other nights. This was required reading by the JIC, and I keep it accessible for when I need to recite the blessings. Honestly I should probably read it cover to cover again.

Mishkan Moed: A Guide to the Jewish Seasons, by CCAR, edited by Rabbi Peter S. Knobel is a holidays round-up of the cycle of the year. Including the small ones and the modern ones. I didn’t spend a ton of time pouring over it but that was mostly a result of distraction with schooling rather than anything else. It has very concise and easy to read summaries of the holiday history and mitzvoth, and ends with a series of essays on questions of observance and so on. It was a required JIC book and while it wasn’t my favourite, I think it’s a very valuable one to have.

Seasons of our Joy, by Arthur Waskow was a personal choice, one I picked up used. It’s a Jewish Renewal, New Age type book on the Jewish holidays. I don’t think I’ve read it through – I find some of it incredibly frustrating – but it’s a useful book to have for a different take on Jewish practice and one I’m going to renew my effort to read in detail again soon. I have not finished it completely before.

Too Good to Passover, by Jennifer Felicia Abadi is a personal choice, one I found online that is a collection of Sephardic recipes and anecdotes for, three guesses, Passover. I haven’t read it through yet – it’s not really that kind of book, it’s very thick – but I like Passover recipes because they’re the main kind of Jewish food I can make that’s safe for my allergies. I hope I find a lot of non-Passover uses for it and several Passover ones too.

Books on Jewish Practice:

This is mostly the kind of generic books. Often they have a ton of information collected together, but because they’re a huge variety I figure they should have a category of some kind going on.

JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh, by the Jewish Publication Society, which seems like a silly book to list but I consider the edition and so on of a book to matter to people. Obviously this is exactly what it sounds like – a two-column Tanakh, with Hebrew on the left and English on the right of a page that includes all of the religious books used in Judaism. The back pages include what the parshas are and what their haftarahs are (and, in parentheticals, what the Sephardi tradition ones are when different.) I really enjoy this edition because in many places it includes both alternate translations in the notes as well as ones where they go “Hebrew uncertain,” to admit the level of guesswork involved. This was a required text of the JIC, and no no I have not read it through yet. One day.

Mishkan T’filah: A Reform Siddur, by CCAR, edited by Elyse D. Frishman, this was also a required JIC text and it is my baby and I love it to pieces. I have the complete edition – weekdays, Shabbat, holidays, etc. It includes multiple “sets” of the prayers for morning, evening, Shabbat morning and evening, and a “Shabbat morning/evening II” section that is less literal and more flowing. It took me several months to learn how to use it properly but it was so very worth it for all the information it contains. It’s better laid out than an Artscroll Siddur, IMO, in terms of being user-friendly for the uninitiated, but truly any siddur you buy you should invest the time to sit and read through it without trying to use it until you know what parts it is you need.

Please note that a siddur is not a cheap book. My siddur sells, used, on Amazon, for 132$ CAD. The comparative Artscroll siddur – festivals, Shabbat, AND weekday prayers – is about the same price. These are not insignificant purchases, so wait and see what you really want from a book before you decide. If I had not gotten this as part of my class, I would not own a complete version at this point in my life.

Essential Judaism, by George Robinson was a required JIC book and is a catch-all book about Jewish life, holidays, philosophers, history, and movements. It’s a Jewish life encyclopedia; if you want one book to cover almost all your bases, this is the one to get. I appreciate it immensely as it includes the most human aspects of Judaism that I value so much – the section on fasting on Yom Kippur includes a purported quote from a famous 19^th century Rabbi, Hayim Soloveitchik, on why he was so “lenient” about letting sick people eat and drink on Yom Kippur: “On the contrary – I am not lenient – I’m very strict when it comes to saving lives.” I feel that sums up what I love about the book, and Judaism, very well.

A Book of Life, by Rabbi Michael Strassfeld is a Jewish spirituality book I haven’t actually managed to read yet because I bought it and then put it in a box for a year. I finally refound it and may in fact move it into my personal library soon but I don’t have access to it at the moment to give much more of an opinion on it. From what I’ve read of it, though, it is somewhat similar to the Essential Judaism book but with more of an eye to suggestions for practice than encyclopedic record.

With the Jewish Child in Home and Synagogue, by Elma Ehrlich Levinger. This is listed not really as a recommendation but a kind of point of interest of things I’ve found in second hand stores. It’s a simple little cloth-bound children’s book about Jewish ritual and practice… given as a gift and signed June 12^th, 1932. I got it before I started converting as a reference book with memory attached (my bonding happens a LOT to old books) but now it’s something I kind of treasure.

Jewish Feminism:

I had quite a stint on this for a while so I collected a few including by Orthodox Jewish Women

Yentl’s Revenge, edited by Danya Ruttenerg is a series of Essays on a variety of Jewish practices that’s from 2001. It’s an interesting mix of essays, one I haven’t read in a while but I remember I liked it a great deal when I did. I’d definitely suggest it to someone who is looking into how to be a modern, more reform oriented but not solely, Jewish feminist. I have read it completely just four or five years ago.

Standing Again at Sinai by Judith Plaskow is the Jewish Feminist text and I have not in fact managed to make myself read it yet. I intend to, but feminism is not my favourite subject in a general sense, only in specific ones.

Women and Jewish Law, by Rachel Biale is a technical book about Jewish legal practice. I started it and liked it, but haven’t managed to finish it as it is very dense. I do not regret having it, but I can’t comment on its utility at this time.

Jewish Women Speak about Jewish Matters, edited by Sarah Tikvah Kornbluth & Doron Kornbluth, is a series of essays from an Orthodox perspective. It is basically an Orthodox companion to Yentl’s Revenge in some ways, and I liked it immensely for what it was doing. I would not recommend it as a general resource, but one if you are interested in what is appealing about Orthodox life to those actually living it.

On Women and Judaism, by Blu Greenberg. I read this a while ago and reviewed it on my Tumblr blog then. I liked it and I thought it was a good view of engagement with Halacha and Orthodox traditions from within. Her viewpoints do not push the envelope very far but again if you are interested in Orthodox Judaism as a woman I think a book like this is necessary to see if you can find yourself happiness within the limits as they exist. It’s an older, so some things have changed since then.

The Other Category:

A place for Jewish non-religious, non-historical books.

The Jewish Journaling Book, by Janet Ruth Falon is a book I got recently because of a personal desire to start journaling and knowing I need a place to prompt myself if I start to flail or blank on starting an entry on any given day. It exists as a kind of reminder by simply sitting on my shelf, but I like the way she approached the structure and explanation of what makes it Jewish and what makes for good journaling. I have read the introduction but not through all her prompt suggestions yet.



I will add to this list over time as I acquire all my books again and gain new ones but here's what I have for now.